need help for school tank

[fanker]

ok im in aquaculture and im in charge of the reef tanks, he has had them st up 4 about a year but no lighhts till last week we have a 29g that has the tek 4x39w and a 55g with a tek 4x54w and my teacher went to some whole salers and got about $2000 worth of corals and fish and the 55g is fine but 2 days after he put the stuff in the 29g everything died, and i dont know why, can u guys help me out?

 

[fedukeford]

How many fish/coral/inverts were added to the 29?

 

[yosemite sam]

As always, what are the water parameters in the tanks? What all was added?

 

[fanker]

all the water pars were fine all at 0 and the ph at 8.2, but he added like 3 1" clams, anout 4-5 fish, like 2 meat corals a couple anenomes and like 4 soft corals

 

[yosemite sam]

Was that all added just to the 29 gallon tank?. What were the fish? It would help to know the actual water parameters, as what is 'fine' is not always fine for all species.

 

[fanker]

yep that was it and there is tons of stuff added to the 55g and its doing fine, but all the par was at 0 , but the fish were 2 black and white clowns(about an inch), 2 green chromises, a 4" black ribbon eel, and a blenny

 

[yosemite sam]

What is your calcium, alk and salinity? What test kits were you using? How were the fish acclimated? What kind of blenny, and how big? I'm assuming the 0 for ammonia/nitrate/nitrite was before everything died?

 

[fanker]

idk the alk and calcium or how it was added, i wasnt there, but the salinity is 1.024, and all the fish were less than 2" except for the eel

 

[yosemite sam]

It's hard to say what exactly caused the crash, but adding 6 fish at once to a 29 gallon tank is not a good idea. Who did the research before adding? Ribbon eels are basically impossible to keep, and have an extremely poor survival record in captivity. They do not do well with boisterous tankmates, so adding one with 5 tankmates in a small tank is again, not good.

 

[fanker]

well i knew my teacher was going to a wholesaler but didnt know he was going to spend 2000$ on fish and put them in. but the other tank is totaly stable idk what happend

 

[coachklm]

i'll bet an anemone went south and poisoned everything..

 

[fanker]

ya might have thats what i was thinking, i was wondering if he got like a nudi branch or a cucumber that died because iknow those things are ticking time bombs

 

[zanoshanox]

i would bet it was one fo the anemones....prolly over the weekend or something. I'm not sure though, but if it wasnt found it would kill everything

 

[dejaco]

Simple volume problem. The 29 gallon tank doesnt have the volume a 55 gallon tank does. I know (DUH). What most fail to realize is the smaller the volume the greater the chance for a major catastrophe. The larger tank has the ability to dilute a problem much more easily. Also the bacterial load of a tank can't increase fast enough to detoxify nutrient compounds if it too is stressed or dieing. All in all - small tank - small changes or additions! Old addage but true - "Nothing good ever happens fast in a salt water system"!